The Road Ahead Continues

“How is it? My calligraphy still has some real substance, wouldn’t you say? This is what a proper scholar’s work looks like.”

Cui Hao’s voice was brimming with pride as he gazed at the large characters he had personally written and then carved onto the sect plaque.

Before the mountain gate, everyone in the sect was looking up at the plaque hanging overhead—

The All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect.

Li Yingling hesitated.

“The calligraphy is fine, but isn’t the name a little too hasty? Master, shouldn’t we gather everyone’s opinions and think it over? Or just call it the Returning Star Sect. Why add ‘All Things Go Well’?”

“No need.” Chu Xingchen looked at the plaque before him and chuckled. “Whoever becomes sect master in the future can change it if they want. If you don’t like it, you can take over as sect master early. You can even rename it the ‘Your Master Is an Idiot Returning Star Sect’ for all I care.”

Li Yingling could only let out a helpless sigh.

“I can’t even bring myself to say either of those names…”

Cui Hao turned around in satisfaction. “Treat ‘All Things Go Well’ as a prefix. Dynasties change and take on new names, don’t they? Today, we have the All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect. In the future, when Master ascends to immortality and someone else becomes sect master, we can change ‘All Things Go Well’ to ‘Unrivaled Under Heaven.’”

“Unrivaled Under Heaven Returning Star Sect.” Cui Hao repeated the name, then nodded. “Just hearing it tells you it’s unrivaled under heaven. Truly imposing!”

Li Yingling looked at the plaque above them, but in the end, she too laughed softly.

“Forget it. Since Master is the sect master, he gets the final say. But… I’m now the Returning Star Sect’s senior disciple.”

Chu Xingchen glanced at the plaque, then shouted,

“Where are the disciples of the All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect?”

“Here!”

“Here!”

“Here…”

Everyone answered together.

Chu Xingchen turned toward the direction of Southern Jambudvipa, his tone solemn and resolute.

“We’re running away!”

“Good!”

“Eh?!”

“What?”

The crowd’s united response immediately turned into confusion.

Li Yingling, however, was not confused at all. Her smile only grew brighter. The corners of Li Xingtian’s mouth also betrayed a smile.

The two of them answered together without the slightest hesitation:

“We’re running away!”

Hearing their response, Chu Xingchen smiled just as brightly.

From this day onward—

He hoped these disciples would remain as they were now: merely saying they were running away, without actually doing so.

He also hoped they would be like the sect’s name.

May all things go well.

The group set off, heading straight for Southern Jambudvipa.

They traveled in a grand procession, and Chu Xingchen did not conceal his presence. Many immortals watched them as they passed.

Chu Xingchen was no longer the same person he had once been, and the sect was no longer what it had once been. No one foolish enough to test the strength of the All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect had appeared.

Half a month later, the disciples of the All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect arrived together at Yuzhou City in Southern Jambudvipa.

Nothing remained of the sect’s former site outside Yuzhou City. The place had become a vast, deep water pit, with trees growing thickly all around it.

In the end, the sect’s former location in Yuzhou City remained a place the early disciples found difficult to forget.

Both Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu had joined the All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect there, and they had cultivated there for a long time.

Fortunately, Yuzhou City was still standing and had suffered relatively little from the previous incident.

Chu Xingchen led everyone to remain there for several days. Just as they had done back then, they spent money and spirit stones, called in favors, and used the name of Chanlin Temple to hold a grand gathering.

Yuan Kong returned to Chanlin Temple and met with his senior brother once more.

For one night, fish and dragons danced, and the lanterns shone as brightly as day.

Endless merriment filled every heart; even immortals were among the revelers.

When the lanterns finally dimmed, it was time for everyone to leave.

After the fireworks over Yuzhou City faded, Chu Xingchen did not depart at once. Instead, he went nearby to meet with Li Junzi.

Chu Xingchen could see through the path to Second Sagehood. It offered those in the mortal world without spiritual roots another road forward, and that was certainly a good thing.

Li Junzi was overwhelmed with affairs, but he still set aside two days to meet with them.

One cup of tea, a few words of encouragement.

They exchanged greetings and wished each other well.

Lin Luoyu spoke with Li Junzi the most. After discussing her many worries and questions with him in person, much of the unease in her heart faded.

When she once again bid farewell to the Black Tortoise Kingdom, the anxiety in Lin Luoyu’s heart had largely disappeared.

Li Junzi now possessed the heart of a Second Sage.

This was not something that could be matched through cultivation alone.

When one’s heart was firm enough, anything could be accomplished.

Bearing everyone’s blessings, the group bid farewell to the Black Tortoise Kingdom—and to Li Junzi.

Their next destination was chosen by Li Yingling. She simply decided to go to Eastern Sheng Divine Continent, a place she had heard was filled with opportunities. Perhaps there, she might even find a true authority.

No one questioned or hesitated. The group crossed the continent together.

They did not use teleportation arrays along the way. Some rode spirit beasts, while those with higher cultivation carried those with lower cultivation as they traveled.

They called it traveling, but whenever they encountered breathtaking scenery, they would stop to admire it.

Qian Qing was a martial artist and could not travel for long periods without rest. Chu Xingchen made suitable arrangements, always leaving extra time for rest each day. They did not spend the entire journey flying at full speed.

The group would also walk through places untouched by human footsteps, as well as through bustling cities filled with voices and activity.

They bought unique objects and gave different gifts to one another.

Cui Hao would shake his book satchel and explain the customs of each place, sometimes drawing on genuine knowledge and sometimes simply making things up.

Though Cui Hao was exposed as wrong more than a few times, San Dong believed him every single time.

Perhaps Cui Hao’s explanations were simply too well-reasoned to challenge. Or perhaps San Dong trusted Cui Hao unconditionally.

Naturally, they also encountered injustices in the mortal world.

There were cultivators who committed evil deeds and demonic cultivators who murdered.

As a leading orthodox sect, the All-Things-Go-Well Returning Star Sect naturally intervened in such matters. Most of the time, they assigned people according to cultivation level, sending a disciple with a comparable realm to handle the matter.

Apart from cultivators, there were naturally also mortals who exploited and bled others dry.

These matters were generally handled by Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu.

Whether the matter was great or small, they would always stop and deal with it. Perhaps what they did could not change the greater trend of the world.

But in the end, they saved people who should have died and saw off those whose time had already come.

The group traveled all the way from Southern Jambudvipa to Eastern Sheng Divine Continent and finally arrived at the place Li Yingling had wished to visit.

It was a chain of islands stretching across the sea, surrounded by blue waters and clear skies.

There was nothing there—no spiritual treasures, no secret realms, not even anything particularly worthwhile. The place was so desolate that not even birds would leave droppings there.

There was no authority to be found either.

The group stayed for two days, yet no one left in disappointment.

Perhaps it was because Yuan Kong had been buried in the ground for fun, or perhaps because Li Xingtian could not even roast crabs properly, making everyone laugh.

Li Xingtian had no particular place he wanted to visit. However, at Chu Xingchen’s insistence, he still went to a secret realm in Central Continent.

The whole group went together.

With the cultivation of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, Chu Xingchen kicked open the secret realm belonging to a Mahayana cultivator.

This time, their harvest was quite substantial.

Later, Li Xingtian privately told Chu Xingchen that in his previous life, his cultivation had been insufficient, and he had suffered greatly in that secret realm.

Chen Baiqing’s desired destination was very simple. She merely spent a few spirit stones asking where the finest hot springs could be found.

After that, everyone soaked in the hot springs for two days.

They did nothing at all. They simply drank tea and ate the little desserts everyone made together.

Chen Baiqing seemed like someone unwilling to leave anything behind, yet at the same time, she also seemed to be the person who demanded the least from anything.

Lin Luoyu visited the sect that Li Junzi had recommended to her back then. Although she had ultimately not followed Li Junzi’s advice, she was still willing to repay that kindness on his behalf.

It was not a particularly large immortal sect.

The group concealed their identities and spent several days exchanging ideas with the sect members. Before departing, Chu Xingchen left behind a generous sum of spirit stones.

Cui Hao chose to return to his hometown.

But he did not choose to make contact. Instead, he led everyone across the stone bridge he had once crossed, listened to stories of his childhood, and ate the foods he had wanted to try as a child.

The Cui clan was still the same as ever. Cui Hao’s departure had merely cost them the chance to rise to the heavens in a single step, but it would not leave them utterly fallen.

When it was time to leave, Cui Hao still left behind a magical treasure and met with the clansmen he could still meet.

Cui Hao still remembered the clan’s kindness in raising him. He also hoped that this magical treasure, whose grade was fairly good, could protect the clan in his stead and repay the kindness he had received.

Naturally, the party did not remain unchanged.

Whenever they had the time, Xu Jin and Daoist Yuyang would seek out Chu Xingchen, savor a cup of spring warmth, and travel a stretch of the road ahead together.

But they had many affairs to attend to, and came and went as they pleased.

The only difference was Zheng Zhaoling, who had joined them halfway through the journey and never left.

The road ahead stretched on without end.

They could do nothing but continue along its winding course.